


An Unknown Address

by whore4seokjin



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 11:56:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12704520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whore4seokjin/pseuds/whore4seokjin
Summary: For Clotilde. Hope you enjoy!





	An Unknown Address

**Author's Note:**

> For Clotilde. Hope you enjoy!

I took a deep breath. The coldness of the air slit my throat in silence and I swallowed it. The white sky pierced my eyes in contrast to the darkness of everything else and I kept my head low. It was winter.

  
Somewhere in the midst of december was around six months since I started living and working in New York. The rent was crazy and my apartment was 30 minutes away from work, if you love walking like I do. If you’re skilled enough to catch a taxi, you’ll be there in 5.

  
The pay is small. But if you realize that I make coffee, it’s just fine. There are a lot of people who come and go through our shop. You don’t get attached to the people, but to their habits. And sometimes you get surprised when the old lady stops ordering her usual long, black turkish coffee with four small spoons of sugar and starts ordering a regular one. With milk. I guess people are like that. I was too.

  
On my half-year-anniversary my co-workers bought me a cake. It was very thoughtful from them but I hadn’t gotten even a taste from it. It was okay, I don’t like fruit cakes after all. One of my co-workers who makes coffee together with me and sometimes even bartends, Milly, said it tasted like cardboard. I laughed at that.

  
After they had all eaten my cake, they left me do the dishes. I laughed it off but I was ready to do anything for a couple of extra bucks for working way past my shift. I was saving money to go to Japan after I finish with my studies.

  
It was around 6pm, the dark outside had already spread amongst the streets and buildings. Everything was vibrating from chatter and rushed sound of heels hitting the concrete in a hurry. I know these sounds one by one. It was that part of the day when people were heading back home to their families from work. It was way past working hours. For them. I had to work for a few more hours since I came in late today to my second shift.

  
There weren’t a lot of customers that day, I remember. Not even the old lady who drinks regular coffee instead of turkish black was there that day. I wondered why but it quickly got off my mind. There was something unusual about that day in particular. The only familiar person from that day was this one guy who puts some change in my jar which I keep on the counter for people to help me raise money to go to Japan. He does that regularly. I wonder why.

  
As he approached to pay that evening, I wiped my hands against my apron and swallowed my croissant. “That would be the usual 4 bucks, yeah?” he asked while getting his wallet out of his back pocket. I do admit that he’s kind of cute. In his own way. His face was really small and his eyes curled back and disappeared when he smiled at me. The eye smile was contagious and something he was easily recognized by.

  
“it’s on the house this time” I smiled back at him. The warmth of his smile made me blush a little. This hasn’t happened in a while. The day was getting even more unusual for me. He didn’t want to take that offer for being the usual customer and he rejected it by putting a $10 bill in my jar this time. That was very unexpected and couldn’t compare to his usual change he left inside. “I’m Chenle by the way.” He said before leaving the café.

  
I didn’t even get to say thanks.

  
Around 8pm, I was heading back home still in thoughts. Nothing which could be that big of a deal kept my mind busy but that guy really was something different. I felt uneasy and didn’t think it was the right time to fall in love or develop crushes, especially with my busy schedules. I might even go low on cash since my studies were taking over me with all the exams coming up and the semester ending soon. I shrugged it off and exhaled loudly.

  
I was working very short shifts from that day. I was at least $50 shorter on cash that month since I needed more time to study and less time to make coffee. Everything was frustrating me. That night I cried for the first time in a while. It was somewhere around 2am and my eyes were going to fall out. My boss asked me to come over to work the night shift since his wife was having a baby and the other worker was in Alabama, visiting her family. I just had to do it. I struggled a lot.

  
The night shift sometimes gets more packed than the usual morning/noon ones. People usually come by when they’ve got a break. We work one block away from a hospital which was bringing us profit in some way. You get to see and listen to so many life stories when you sit behind the cashier. Divorced mothers, immigrants, sick young teens. All sorts of life comes and goes through this cozy café.

  
I put my apron on and just in that second I heard the bell above the door ring, announcing me a new customer. It was Chenle. Even though I denied it in my head, I was very pleased to see him. I never worked this late, so it was a surprise to see him that late. He was wearing his usual black leather jacket and his yellow jumper underneath. I was happy to see the yellow jumper again at such late part of the day.

  
“You work night shifts now, too?” he asked leaning over the counter. “Awesome.”  
I laughed at him while already making his Americano, and protested: “No! Don’t give them ideas.”

  
We both exchanged somewhat loud laughs and he sat to a nearby table. There was not a lot of traffic at work so I sat with him and talked to him. I tightly gripped onto my cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows and listened to him.

  
That night I found out that the portion of life people radiate through this shop was very little compared to the one I don’t know. I sat throughout the night in silent awe listening to Chenle speak about his life. I learned that he plays the guitar and the piano. He won the first place in an international competition back home when he was still living in China, and I thought it was really impressive. He amazed me. His story amazed me.

  
He has no mother or father and he said he lived on an unknown address. He can’t afford to go to university which had always been his biggest wish. I immediately thought of giving him my whole jar of savings. I felt pity even though he didn’t want me to. I tried not to cry because that would be weird and he would feel awkward. But he was truly amazing. He shared his views of the world with me and said how much he wants to travel everywhere around the world. He said how he loves languages and food and the varieties in people and minds but somehow still sticks to the same cup of coffee he always drinks. He has never had his first kiss and would like it to happen on top of a mountain. He loves mountains. He loves them because they represent his goals and highest points in life. He thinks he is still at the ground but I think he is way up in the sky. But he’s a stubborn and selfless guy so he didn’t want to agree.

  
Days later he wasn’t showing up in the night shift and I wasn’t working it either. Actually, I haven’t been working for a whole week now. The last time I heard of him was then. I thought he was avoiding me because it was probably too much for him to open up to me during the first time we have spoken nicely to each other.

  
I found out he bought an acoustic guitar and a keyboard set. He started performing a few blocks away from our shop. He was singing until very late at night for the residents and tourists. I found out he was raising money to help me go to Japan and see my favorite cities.

  
I found out all of that after a month when one of my co workers gave me an envelope filled with hundreds of dollars and a letter. In that letter he stated how he loved the world and loved the people in it and how he wanted to do good for them, me being within them.

 

  
_Dear Clotilde,_  
_Hi. It’s Chenle, the pathetic guy from a few weeks ago. I wanted to give you this money as a gift from me. Don’t try to find me and try to reject it. It’s all for you and your trip to Japan. Or whatever you choose to do with it, it’s your money now._  
_I wanted to tell you that you meant the world to me for the few hours we talked. The way your eyes would light up at anything I saw was truly something else. It made me smile from time to time because you are very see through. I didn’t want you to fall in love with me but you were starting to. I was doing the same for you but it was time for me to leave. It will always hurt how I am trying to reject your love and my own love for you but don’t think about it too much. It always will._  
_I will meet you at the top of the mountain._  
_Love,_  
_Chenle._


End file.
